Dara Alizadeh
The Caribbean athletes have delivered a mix of remarkable performances and near misses in various disciplines at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Yariulvis Cobas of Cuba in Women’s Single Sculls
Cuban rower Yariulvis Cobas will advance to the Semifinals E/F in the women’s single sculls after finishing third in the repechage with a time of 8:10.64. Despite a strong start, Cobas was edged out by Filipino Joanie Delgaco, who won in 7:55.00, and Vietnamese Pham Thi Hue, who finished second in 8:00.97. Cobas had earlier failed to qualify directly to the quarterfinals after finishing fifth in her heat. The 33-year-old, who made her Olympic debut in London 2012, continues to showcase her resilience and determination.
Dara Alizadeh of Bermuda in Men’s Single Sculls
Bermuda’s Dara Alizadeh also qualified for the Semifinals E/F in the men’s single sculls after a challenging repechage round. Alizadeh finished third with a time of 7:17.05, trailing behind Algerian Sid Ali Boudina and Hong Kong’s Hin Chun Chiu. Despite leading initially, Alizadeh couldn’t maintain his pace and was overtaken, narrowly missing out on advancing to the quarterfinals.
Andrea Becali of Cuba in Women’s 200m Freestyle Swimming
Cuban swimmer Andrea Becali fell short in the heats of the women’s 200m freestyle, finishing eighth with a time of 2:03.38. Her performance placed her 21st overall, 7.59 seconds behind the fastest qualifier, Australia’s Mollie O'Callaghan. Becali, a two-time individual finalist at the 2023 Pan American Games, faced tough competition but remains a key figure in Caribbean swimming.
Men’s 100m Backstroke
Bermuda’s Jack Harvey, Grenada’s Zackary Gresham, and Maximillian Wilson of the US Virgin Islands delivered commendable performances in the men’s 100m backstroke heats. Harvey won his heat in 55.78, while Gresham finished fourth at 58.92. Wilson also won his heat in 54.49, and Yeziel Morales from Puerto Rico finished sixth in 55.76. Despite their efforts, none of these athletes advanced to the next round. Harvey, Wilson, and Morales finished 39th, 27th, and 38th respectively, with Hungarian Hubert Kos leading the qualifiers with a time of 52.78.
Women’s 10m Air Rifle Shooting
Cuban Lisbet Hernandez and Puerto Rican Yarimar Mercado Martinez were unable to advance in the women’s 10m air rifle shooting preliminaries. Hernandez scored 624.7, placing 36th, while Martinez scored 622.0, finishing 39th. Both athletes faced stiff competition and were unable to secure a spot in the next round.
Audrys Nin Reyes of the Dominican Republic in Artistic Gymnastics
Dominican Republic gymnast Audrys Nin Reyes faced challenges in the artistic gymnastics qualifiers. In the Horizontal bar, he scored 11.400 points, finishing 58th, and in the vault, he ranked 16th overall with scores of 14.766 and 13.200. Despite his strong performances, Nin Reyes did not advance to the next round.
United States 4-1 Germany: Smith and Swanson send Star and Stripes into Olympic quarter-finals
The United States booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Paris Olympic Games with a match to spare after a commanding 4-1 victory over Germany.
Sophia Smith netted a first-half double on either side of Mallory Swanson's goal before Lynn Williams wrapped up the points late on.
Giulia Gwinn had given Germany hope by equalising, but the USA were too strong as they ruthlessly booked a place in the knockout rounds.
The USA made a quick start, with Smith darting in front of her marker to slot a close-range tap-in past Ann-Katrin Berger, only for Gwinn to cancel it out 11 minutes later with a pinpoint shot into the bottom-left corner.
Emma Hayes' side soon asserted their dominance though – Swanson reacted quickest to latch onto Smith's saved shot, firing in from an acute angle on the left.
Smith then got her second just before the break, helped by a huge deflection, as her effort looped over Berger before bouncing over the line off the inside of the far post.
Jule Brand struck the woodwork just after the hour mark before further misery was piled on the Germans as captain Alexandra Popp was forced off late in the second half with a knee injury that they will be hoping is not too serious.
Williams rounded things off by making a quick impact off the bench, finishing off a lightning-quick counter-attack just under four minutes after coming on.
Data Debrief: Smith and Swanson on song
The USA got the job done in the first half, ensuring Hayes became just the second coach to win each of their first two major tournament matches in charge, after Anson Dorrance in the 1991 World Cup.
Swanson added to her double against Zambia with another goal in Marseille and is just the second player in USA's history to net three times in the group stage of a single Olympics, after Abby Wambach in 2012.
Before today, the winner of each of the five previous major tournament meetings between the USA and Germany has gone on to win the entire tournament, and Hayes will be hoping that is a good sign of what is to come.
'We expect nothing less' - Davis unsurprised by Durant's starring role in Team USA win
Anthony Davis says Team USA "expect nothing less" after Kevin Durant starred on his return from injury in a 110-84 win against Serbia at the Olympic Games.
Durant did not play any of the pre-Olympic warm-up games due to a calf injury and was only cleared to play for the USA an hour before their opener started.
However, he made a huge impact in just 17 minutes, nailing his first eight shots, including five 3-pointers, as he scored 23 points.
After being touch-and-go for the tournament, with coach Steve Kerr reluctant to rush him back too early, Davis says the team knew he would be ready when called upon.
"We expect nothing less," he said. "We know what he can do when the ball is in his hand, and he got hot. It was fun to watch his first time, second time, 12th.
"To see and be a fan and actually get a chance to cheer for him instead of rooting against [him] with his scoring ability – man, it was fun to watch."
Durant was not the only one in fine form, as LeBron James marked his Olympic comeback with a standout performance, getting 21 points, eight rebounds and nine assists as he provided a spark.
James and Durant also became the first USA team-mates to both score over 20 points in an Olympic opener.
The 39-year-old, playing his first contest at the Games since 2012, when he won his second consecutive gold medal, was full of praise for Durant and the team as the USA chase a sixth title in a row.
"I mean [Durant] is just an out-of-this-world talent," he said after the game. "That's the best game we played so far.
"[I'll do] Whatever it takes [to win]. It's going to be somebody different every day. And we have that type of firepower."
Next up for Team USA in Group C is South Sudan, who made history in their Olympic debut earlier on Sunday.
Their basketball federation was only formed in 2011, and they beat Puerto Rico 90-79 for their first win at the Games.
Murray and Evans through after thrilling first-round comeback
Andy Murray delayed his retirement with an epic Olympics first-round comeback as he and Dan Evans fought back to beat Japan's Kei Nishikori and Taro Daniels.
The two-time gold medallist looked set to be playing his final game, but Team GB prevailed 2-6 7-6 (7-5) 11-9 on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
Nishikori and Daniels, who were both eliminated from the men's singles competition earlier in the day, were keen to make amends and broke the British pair twice in the last four games of the opening set to draw first blood.
Murray and Evans responded well and replied to two breaks in the second set to force a tie-break, in which they held their nerve to level.
In the final set decider, the curtain looked sure to come down on Murray's glittering career, but the Brits survived five match points to level the tie-break at 9-9 before remarkably booking their place in the next round.
Data Debrief: From the jaws of defeat
Nishikori and Daniels could not have asked for a better first set as they brushed their opponents aside, making just four unforced errors to Team GB's 10.
However, Murray and Evans' resilience kicked in, and they saved two break points in the second set. In the decider, they won the last seven points to storm through, leaving their opponents shocked.
In an already memorable tournament for Murray, he has just played a match that will live long in the memory.
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